Health and safety raids soar by 70 per cent as tip-offs surge

Mind your step: More than 4,000 inspections were carried out in the year to March 2014

Companies are facing a blizzard of raids from health and safety inspectors after a surge in whistle-blowing by workers, customers and suppliers, according to a leading law firm.

More than 4,000 inspections were carried out by the Health and Safety Executive officers as the result of tip-offs and other intelligence gathering in the year to March 2014. The figures is up by 18 per cent on the previous 12 months and up by 70 per cent since 2012, when there were 2,429 inspections

Law firm Pinsent Masons collated the figures after making a freedom of information request to the HSE. Laura Cameron, a partner at the firm said: ‘The increase in tip-off based inspections means businesses must be more prepared for sudden inspections by the HSE.’

‘There should be no surprise when businesses with unaddressed health and safety issues receive a knock on the door from an inspec- tor who may have been tipped off by an employee or a customer.’ The HSE said the figures did not necessarily relate solely to tip-offs. A spokesman said the figures related to what the HSE calls ‘priority local inspections’.

‘These are intelligence-prompted inspections where we have reason to suspect unsatisfactory health and safety standards,’ he said.

The figures include tip-offs from staff or other connected parties, but can also be prompted by insurance reports or a previous record of a health and safety incident.

He denied the executive had changed its policy.

HSE has a capacity of about 22,000 proactive inspections each year and if intelligence gathering prompted a higher number of priority cases they adjusted the numbers of other types of inspections accordingly.

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Pinsent Masons’ Cameron warned that the HSE could examine cost-cutting at companies found to be in breach of regulations and could take action against bosses if cuts were shown to have contributed to failings.

‘If the HSE decides that cost-cutting was a primary reason for the breach of health and safety regulations, it might look to prosecute senior management,’ she said.

‘In fact, the courts have recently gone so far as considering the pay and benefits received by directors when deciding what penalty to impose on a company.’

She highlighted one recent case that Pinsent Masons had handled where a sports club had been fined a sum equivalent to its entire assets by the HSE, which led to the business being wound up.

The HSE, however, denied that it had a policy of targeting directors and instead looked at whether the company, its directors of other employees were responsible for failings. ‘If a prosecution is considered appropriate we prosecute whoever broke the law,’ the HSE spokesman said.